


Two Years

by Shipsorsanity



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M, M/M, Nico and Bianca are two years older than they were in the series, Nico is more understanding, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pairings aren't the focus, Universe Alteration, like seriously these relationships are sort of there but are definately not the focus at all, of course I wouldn't leave out Nico's crush, you could read into them
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-11
Updated: 2016-10-11
Packaged: 2018-08-21 20:46:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8260043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shipsorsanity/pseuds/Shipsorsanity
Summary: In the original story, Nico ran away from the camps, hating Percy because Nico blamed him for Bianca's death.What would have happened if Nico was two years older and more understanding?How would have his and Percy's relationship been different? What about Percy and Annabeth's?Nico's transformation from an annoying ten year old to a more mature twelve year old will make all the difference.





	

When Percy first met Nico and Bianca, he had expected them to be more oblivious to their heritage. He forgot that they were demigods too, that their childhoods were similar to his.

They would have seen monsters more and more as they grew older, and judging by Nico's cards, they would have recognized their mythological origins.

Percy was astounded by the siblings' maturity. Annabeth said it was probably from a traumatic experience, but when questioned, Bianca said she didn't remember anything from before the academy. Nico said the same thing.

They acted like adults, even though they were only fourteen and twelve. Their maturity was evident, but in different ways.

Bianca acted like a mother, cautious and protective over Nico. Her eyes looked as though she had been through war, and she was suspicious of everything, not wanting to compromise her or Nico's safety for a moment. She asked questions about everything and wanted to make sure everything was okay.

Nico, on the other hand, observed. He watched everything with wide eyes, and Percy often felt as though he was reading his soul. He was usually surprisingly calm. The only time he wasn't was when he was talking about his Mythomagic cards. His face lit up and it's then that Percy's reminded that Nico's younger than him. Nico seemed to be a very empathetic person, and it was proved right when Annabeth was lost. Despite not knowing her or Percy very well, he did his best to comfort Percy.

"She's not dead, you know." Nico said as they boarded Apollo's newly formed bus.

"How can you tell?" Percy spat, his emotions getting the best of him.

Nico shrugged. "I can just feel it." He said. And left it at that.

Somehow, Percy was comforted by those words. He hoped that Nico was right.

Later, Bianca told Nico she joined the Hunters. Percy found him away from the crowd, staring at the trees.

"How are you holding up?" Percy asked, worried that in a few seconds Nico would start sobbing.

The tears didn't come.

Instead, Nico drew a shaky breath and said "You know, at first I was mad at her." He looked back at the group-Bianca was smiling and laughing with her new friends-and he smiled. "Now though, now I'm fine. She'll be happy. It's not like she could take care of me forever, right?" Nico's eyes had a faraway look. "I'm still going to miss her though."

Just before Percy left to follow the Hunters on their quest, he saw Nico watching them from a distance.

"You're going, aren't you." Nico asked him.

Percy nodded. "Yeah. I need to find Annabeth."

"Can I go with?" Nico asked hopefully.

Percy hated to break his heart, but he said "No, sorry Nico. I would, but you don't have any training. It would be too dangerous to send you out there."

Nico nodded and was silent for a few minutes. "Will you at least make sure Bianca's safe?" Nico asked, eyes wet with worry.

Percy put his had on Nico's shoulder and said "I promise I'll do my best."

Unfortunately, Percy's best wasn't good enough.

Percy's quest was a success, and there was a feast at Camp Half Blood in celebration to the return of Artemis, the Hunters, and Annabeth. Percy met the campers with pride.

Then he saw Nico.

Nico's eyes were scanning the crowd. His face shone with dread, as if he knew it was pointless but kept searching out of desperation. Percy broke away from the crowd and said to Nico, "Hey, we need to talk."

Percy told Nico everything about the quest, hoping that Nico wouldn't hate him. He had no idea what to expect. Nico didn't react at all. He just walked alongside Percy as he spoke.

Finally, Percy finished the story. He dug an object out of his coat pocket-the Mythomagic figurine Bianca took-and presented it to Nico, saying "She wanted you to have this."

Nico took the figurine and stared at it. Suddenly, the temperature dropped dramatically and the earth started to shake and crack. Black fog appeared out of nowhere. Nico dropped the figurine and shook his head, stumbling backwards. "No…no…it can't be!" He shouted out of fear and desperation as the crack in the ground grew wider and more effectively separating him and Percy.

Percy watched in horror as skeletons ran out of the fog. "Nico!" He yelled, hoping that Nico would run from the skeletons. Too late did he realize that the skeletons were only there to attack him.

Nico looked up just in time to see the skeletons attack Percy.

Percy summoned Riptide and fought desperately for a few seconds before being completely overtaken and losing his weapon and his only defense.

"Stop!" Nico yelled, and the skeleton soldiers turned to dust instantly. Percy looked up in time to see Nico's horrified expression. "Percy, I-" Nico started. He was interrupted by someone else yelling at him. He ran into the woods and the fog dispersed.

"Percy, gods, are you okay?" Annabeth asked. "You've been stabbed!" She turned her head and looked into the trees with hatred. "What did he do to you?"

Percy was on the verge of consciousness. He used the last of his strength to mutter "Nico…Hades…accident…"

Percy tried to say "Nico's the son of Hades and he hurt me by accident" but Annabeth heard "Nico's the son of Hades and tried to get revenge for Bianca's accident."

Percy fell unconscious and Annabeth dragged him back to the main camp to get help.

Percy woke up in the infirmary days later. Annabeth was sitting at his bedside and as soon as she saw Percy's eyes open, she said "Percy! Thank the gods you're alright. What did Nico do to you?"

"What do you mean?" Percy asked, still a bit disoriented from just waking up.

Annabeth frowned. "You don't remember?" She asked, "Nico hurt you and ran away."

Percy sat up immediately and said "He didn't mean to!"

Percy knew Nico was confused and scared, that out of pure fear and instinct he raised soldiers to protect him. They must have seen Percy as a threat. There was also the fact that Percy held himself responsible for Bianca's death, and Nico probably did too.

When Percy tried to say this to Annabeth, he said "I mean, with Bianca dead, and Nico finding out his godly parent and stuff, he was pretty scared."

"So he attacked you because he blamed you for Bianca's death?" She asked.

Percy felt guilty. He should have stopped Bianca from taking the figurine. "I mean, yeah," Percy said, "but you know, powers get out of control and stuff. Maybe Nico was just scared."

Annabeth shook her head. "Percy, you can't just accidentally raise the dead. Nico deliberately hurt you. He might be twelve, but he could be a secret weapon. He could have lied about his memory. Think about it, nobody can trust Hades, why should we trust his son?"

Percy shook his head. "I don't think so-" he insisted, but the stubborn look on Annabeth's face showed that she wouldn't be proven wrong no matter what. It was impossible to win an argument with her when she was like this. "-but okay."

Annabeth nodded. "We have to assume the worst. Even if it comes from a twelve year old, right?"

Percy nodded. "Right," he said, lying through his teeth, "we can't trust Nico."

Annabeth left Percy to find one of the Apollo kids. Percy stared out the window, hoping that he would somehow find Nico and beg for his forgiveness.

Percy turned over and went back to sleep to try to escape everything that just happened.

**Author's Note:**

> I found an old plot line I wrote out about a year ago, and I decided to write it. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!


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